


What's in a name?

by SugdenLovesDingle



Series: Tumblr prompts [9]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, a hint of rebecca, teenage seb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:13:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23359069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Seb wants to change his name
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Series: Tumblr prompts [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607773
Comments: 7
Kudos: 77





	What's in a name?

**Author's Note:**

> Some people (or person) on tumblr had a problem with Seb being referred to as Seb Sugden-Dingle... and I am nothing if not petty so I wrote this... out of spite... maybe ;)

“Dad?” Seb started. He was sitting at Aaron’s desk in the portacabin, to do his homework under his fathers' watchful eyes. Only homework had turned into doodling in his science workbook a long time ago.

Robert looked up from his computer.

“Yeah?” 

“Why don’t I have your name?”

“What?”

“My name. My last name. It’s different than yours and dad’s and Annie’s.”

“Uh yes… and?”

“Why is my name White?”

“Uh… that’s what your mum wanted. She told me before you were born she wanted you to have her name… and I just went along with it.”

“Right…” Seb said and turned his attention back to his doodles in his notebook and Robert figured that was the end of that.

Only a few days later when he got into bed, he was proved wrong.

“Seb came to me this afternoon.” Aaron said. “He helped out at the yard so I figured something was up. I thought he just had a crush on someone… but it wasn’t that.”

Robert put his book down.

“What was it then? He’s not in trouble is he?”

“I don’t think so.” Aaron shook his head. “He asked me why he wasn’t allowed to have the same name as us.”

“Not allowed?!” Robert sat up in bed. “What did you tell him?”

“That it’s not about allowing and that I didn’t know why you and Rebecca decided he should have her name.”

“Right. Ok… He asked me the same the other day… Do you think it’s bothering him that he has a different name?”

“I don’t know. I told him my name used to be Livesy but I was still a Dingle. And I reminded him Liv’s name is different from ours too but she’s still part of the family too.”

“What did he say to that?”

“Not much. He took off not long after that. Something about a school project with Isaac.”

“And he was quiet during tea tonight. I didn’t realise because Annie was talking about Eve’s pony… but he barely said a word.”

“We’ll talk to him in the morning.” Aaron decided and made Robert lie down next to him. “Try not to stress too much and get some sleep.”

Only the next morning Seb insisted everything was fine and rushed out the door early with an excuse of football practise before school.

“He’ll talk to us when he’s ready.” Aaron had insisted and Robert had begrudgingly gone along with it and put it to the back of his mind until he got a phone call from Rebecca a week or so later, about pitting her son against her.

“Bex, hold up, what are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about? My own son sending me an email asking me to sign legal documents to let him change his name!”

“He what?!”

“I know you never liked him having my name, Robert, but you could have talked to me instead of playing it via Sebastian!”

“I had nothing to do with this!” Robert insisted. “A few days ago he asked me why he had your name and I said that’s what we’d decided before he was born!”

“Oh really? Then why is he saying these things? Because you said you wanted him to have the same name?!”

“What? No! I never said that! Neither of us have.” Robert told her, trying to calm her down.

“Spare me the lies, Robert!” she hung up and Robert stared at his phone in confusion. He had no idea what was going on but he did know he needed to talk to his son. He and Aaron both. 

He decided to pick Seb up from school this afternoon and take him and Aaron for a walk through the hills and the fields surrounding the village.

“So, your mum called me earlier.” Robert started. “She wasn’t very happy with me.”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Why do you think?” Aaron asked and Seb shrugged.

“I don’t know. Isn’t she always unhappy about something?”

“Don’t play dumb, Seb.” Aaron said, annoyed. “We know what’s going on. Why didn’t you talk to us about wanting to change your name?”

“I did! I tried! But all you said was that mum wanted it. So I went to her to fix it!”

“Fix it? Is that what you told her? That you wanted to fix it?”

Seb shrugged again.

“Maybe.”

Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose before looking over Seb’s head at Robert.

“You could have used a bit more tact.” Robert told him. “You know it’s important to her that you have the same name as her and her family.”

“It’s important to her but not to me!” Seb yelled. “I don’t know those people. I don’t remember her dad or her sister! All I know is what you told me and what I read online. I’m related to a serial killer!”

“Is that what this is about? Lachlan?”

“Yes! No! Maybe! I don’t know! I just want the same name as my parents and my sister. Is that a crime?” Seb yelled and ran away. Both his parents ran after him and the three of them collapsed on the steps of the cricket pavilion.

“Why didn’t you say anything? We can’t help if we don’t know what’s bothering you.” Robert said, after catching his breath. Somewhat. 

“I don’t know… I felt stupid… But then Ross proposed to mum and she’s going to change her name and I just… I don’t know her family and… I just don’t want to be related to a serial killer.” Seb explained, close to tears and both his dads put their arms around him.

“Let’s just… give everyone a chance to calm down… and then sit down with your mum and explain things.” Aaron suggested. “And then if you still want to change your name, we can look into doing that, alright?”

Seb nodded and let Aaron kiss his head like he used to do when he was a baby.

It was about two months later when Aaron got home early and found a large, official looking, envelope addressed to Seb among the rest of the post. He smiled to himself and put it on display on the kitchen table. He texted Robert to come home early and pick up some of Seb’s favourite food on the way.

When Annie burst through the door some time later and saw the envelope, she asked what it was but lost interest in the answer before Aaron had finished talking and disappeared upstairs to her room.

Robert arrived home with Seb and their food about half an hour later.

“I found this kid by the side of the road. He seemed sweet so I thought I’d take him home with me. Do you reckon we can keep him?” He joked and Seb rolled his eyes at his dad’s humour.

“I don’t know. Is he house trained?”

“Dad. Stop. You’re embarrassing.” Seb said and then saw the envelope on the table. “Is that…”

“Yeah I think so.”

He grabbed the envelope and turned it over in his hands as he sat down on the sofa, his dads on either side of him.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Robert asked.

“Yeah… It’s just… I’m a little scared… It went through faster than I thought…”

“That’s good isn’t it? This is what you wanted, right?”

Seb nodded and tore open the envelope but didn’t take its contents out.

“Where’s Annie?”

“Upstairs. Do you want me to go get her?” Aaron asked.

“No… No I think I’ll talk to her later.” Seb decided and took the forms out of the envelope. There it was, in black and white. “Sebastian Sugden-Dingle.” he read aloud. “Sounds a bit weird, doesn’t it?”

“I think it has a nice ring to it.” Aaron said and got up from the sofa and grabbed something from the back of one of the kitchen cupboards. “I bought this a few weeks ago for a special occasion.” He said and put a glass shaped like a welly and a bottle of non alcoholic beer in front of Seb. “You’re part Dingle now, you have to drink from the welly to make it official.”


End file.
